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In the United States, state laws are executed by local prosecutors, usually at the county level. When prosecutors initiate a criminal trial, the case is titled “[Prosecution] v. [Defendant],” where [Prosecution] is derived from the state, and [Defendant] is the name of the accused individual. In civil cases, the case title is typically composed of the names of the involved parties, as seen in examples like “Marbury v. Madison” or “Roe v. Wade,” but criminal cases are theoretically brought on behalf of the state’s residents, so the “client” is represented by one of the words below.
So if you’re accused of murder in California, the case is called: “The People of the State of California v. OP.”
in Kentucky: “The commonwealth of Kentucky v OP”
And D.C “United States v. OP.”
For those wondering, the Virgin Islands and Guam use “People,” Puerto Rico uses “Pueblo,” and the Northern Mariana Islands use “Commonwealth.”
